A member of the Serra-Longo Fight Team who garnered a call up to the UFC thanks to a five-fight winning streak that included victories over elite regional competitors Tony Gravely and Raufeon Stots, Dvalishvili stumbled out of the gate. He landed on the wrong side of a unanimous decision verdict against veteran Frankie Saenz in his debut, then was choked out at the buzzer in a clash with fellow upstart Ricky Simon in his sophomore appearance in the Octagon.
But since that 0-2 start, the 29-year-old native of Georgia has found his footing and rattled off three straight victories as he readies to step into the cage opposite Ray Borg this weekend.
After outworking Terrion Ware to register his first UFC win, Dvalishvili has gone back-to-back against recent TUF winner Brad Katona and streaking Contender Series alum Casey Kenney, who got back into the win column with a victory over Louis Smolka at the end of last month. In all three of those outings, the charismatic grinder has showcased his strong grappling and limitless cardio, pushing a pace that opponents can’t match and are ultimately overwhelmed by.
Dvalishvili looks like another case of a fighter who just needed a little extra time to adjust to life in the UFC, as he was competitive in each of his first two appearances, but ultimately came up short. But the experience made him stronger, gave him elements to adjust, and now he’s fighting at his full potential, heading into this weekend’s clash with Borg as a name to keep an eye on in the constantly improving, surprisingly deep 135-pound weight class.
While Borg enters off a loss to Simon just a few weeks ago, the Albuquerque native still represents a step up in competition for Dvalishvili and the kind of well-rounded, veteran talent who should be a stern test for the New York-based bantamweight. If he can replicate the kind of performance he turned in against Katona and Kenney this weekend, Dvalishvili could find himself within arm’s reach of the rankings and staring down an even bigger name next time out.
